3/6

As afternoon started turning to evening, Sirius had Kreacher pack them a picnic supper and changed into something to go to the woods in. Gaara hoped that when he was able to transform as an animagus rather than were-tanuki, he might be able to retain his clothing as Sirius did when he changed. It would be so much more convenient.

Apparition to the New Forest left Remus heaving onto the floor and Gaara gripping a close-by tree so re-centre himself. Hearing Sirius laughing nearby did nothing to make Remus or Gaara feel better. Sirius began setting up camp and Gaara followed suit. They did not bother with tents since none of them would be sleeping, but they did start a small fire and unfold some chairs.

They had a few hours until the sun set and anyone would need to change, so Sirius began cooking some sausages over the fire and feeding them all. Such responsibility would normally fall to Remus but he was in no fit state to be dealing with fire right now. And Gaara couldn't cook.

As they ate, sparingly since Sirius had managed to burn most of the meat, Remus drank his Wolfsbane while Sirius made biting comments about having to buy it for his friend, attempting to be funny and still making Remus feel bad.

When the sun began to set, Sirius unwrapped the rest of the meat and left it on the ground, and began packing everything away. Meanwhile, Remus changed into a dressing gown since his wolf form, larger than his human one, tended to ruin his clothes when he changed. Ultimately, it was Gaara that changed first, simply shrinking down into his clothes and climbing out as a strange tanuki creature without making a sound.

Remus was sweating heavily, his change drawing near, but Sirius was perfectly fine as he stood up and slowly approached the freshly shifted boy.

He walked up to Gaara like he was some dangerous animal that might snap at him and at the last minute he reached forward. Gaara told himself that if Sirius tried petting him, he would bite him. Instead, Sirius smiled and balanced a dog treat on top of Gaara's small snout.

Gaara missed his chance to bite since he was so shocked but the indignity. Of course, the small bone-shaped biscuit fell off his nose in short order as he tried to command his sand to attack Sirius but only ended up glaring and growling a little.

Despite the awful state he was in, Remus joined Sirius in laughing as hard as he ever had. The look on Gaara's canine face was hilarious.

Gaara sat back on his tail and waited. It was with a certain amount of sadistic satisfaction that he watched Remus double over in pain as his own transformation started. Sirius changed into Padfoot to watch, knowing Moony would attack any humans within sight or smelling distance as soon as he got his bearings.

Sirius stayed a respectable distance away from Gaara since he was still fiercely glaring at him, but both sat and watched the much more painful transition.

Once Moony was all changed and breathing heavily, he turned and found to familiar animals waiting for him.

Gaara was still wary of the werewolf, even if he wasn't likely to attack him having drunk the Wolfsbane Potion.

All through the night they trio romped around the forest. Moony had a noticeable limp while Padfoot and Bandit got into a number of scraps as the former was too rambunctious and the latter was in a bad mood and trying to work through some issues.

The fights were still friendly and were broken up when Moony forgot about his injured front leg and joined in. Between them they also managed to stalk and take down a deer, which Moony was soothed by for the time it took to finish eating the thing. Padfoot had taken a couple cursory bites but Bandit stayed clear.

In the morning, Gaara was the first to change back, and unexpectedly too. This resulted in him having to dash away from the suddenly aggressive werewolf, while searching for where they had all stashed their clothes. Fortunately he was still a highly trained shinobi capable of evading a dumb animal, plus Padfoot ran interference whenever the wolf came too close to scratching or nicking the redhead with his teeth or claws.

When he was dressed again, he leapt into the trees and then led the wolf and dog on a final run around the woods, chasing him from the ground. When Remus finally switched back, he was in a very sorry state. The site of the curse on his upper arms was looking even worse than it had yesterday and was openly bleeding dark blood onto the forest floor.

As soon as the wolf was gone, Sirius changed back too and helped his barely conscious friend back to where his clothes were. Gaara leapt down and helped Sirius to carry Remus.

"You should train your body more. You are too weak." Gaara observed as they finally got back to the campsite.

Sirius grumbled, straining to carry Remus after pulling an all-nighter but declining to respond. Before they helped Remus put his shirt back on, Gaara applied a field dressing to his arm to stop the bleeding. "He needs to go back to the hospital."

"I know that, but they won't accept him back until tomorrow. Idiots think there's a chance he might wolf-out and start biting the nurses during the daytime. We'll have to keep him breathing at my place until tomorrow."

"Foolish." Gaara muttered.

"Come on, we need to get him back." Sirius said, taking hold of Remus' hand and pulled out his wand.

"No. I will carry him back to London." Gaara said. Sirius had, as always, questioned the necessity of bringing his gourd of sand with him.

"You'll be seen. He'll be okay from apparating." Sirius said. The last thing they needed right now was the Ministry investigating Gaara for a breach of the Statute of Secrecy as well as the mess a few days ago.

Gaara felt confident he could avoid detection, but since Sirius did not look like he was looking to discuss it, he grabbed onto Sirius' shoulder and prepared himself for the wizarding excuse for transportation.

When they touched down on the street outside of the house, Remus was groaning and his upper arm was bleeding freely through the bandages. Gaara rushed to his side and applied pressure while Sirius levitated him slowly up the steps. It was too early for pedestrians or residents to spot him, luckily, but he was more worried about how much blood was dripping onto the pavement at that moment.

They carried him up to Remus' de facto bedroom and Sirius told Gaara to bring his first aid kit from the bathroom. He was rubbish at stitches but his healing spells were even worse. As he worked on the cursed area, he got a close look at the damage the spell had done to the flesh there. After apparating twice and transforming, it looked as bad as it had done when Remus first got hit.

Gaara had stepped back to watch since he was still unfamiliar with most first aid skills.

When the bleeding was stopped, Sirius wrapped it again and stepped back too, admiring his handiwork. "It won't heal properly until they finish getting rid of whatever dark magic is in there, so this will have to suffice for the time being."

Gaara felt anger welling up inside of him again for the man who did this to Remus until he remembered he had already fulfilled that vendetta. He would have to get some exercise to work out his aggression or risk it bubbling up later.

Sirius and Gaara left Remus to have a rest while they went and had some breakfast. Sirius went to have a nap since he wasn't a young man anymore and needed his rest. Gaara waited until Sirius was gone and then snuck back into Remus' room and sat by his bed, reading a new book.

Gaara's animagus training was all but done at this point so it was time to refocus his research back on his original problem. It was disheartening to return to his old area since the longer he had looked, the less promising subjects were left for him to explore. Now he was onto an obscure branch of Arithmancy that was apparently known to affect barriers between the worlds. It was most likely referring to the afterlife or to the astral plane but long shots were all he had left.

Remus had, on occasion, tried to lend his expertise to Gaara's plight, but they quickly exhausted his limited knowledge of the more arcane topics of magical research. Sirius had tapped out long before then, even. The two men meant well, and they tried to help however else they could but they were not experts on theoretical magic. In his desperation, Sirius had pledged his resources to track down any rare or expensive texts Gaara might need.

Gaara had no idea what the five books he had requested so far cost but he imagined they were significantly more than anything he might find on a Flourish & Blotts price tag.

In the afternoon, Gaara took a break and went downstairs to get some water. There on the side table sat a piece of post that hadn't been there when they arrived earlier this morning. With Sirius and Remus asleep, and Gaara being the enemy, Kreacher had likely decided to wait until one of the adults awoke to notify them of a post owl having been and gone.

As he went to collect it, Sirius stumbled down the stairs, looking like a thirty-year-old man who had gotten scarcely five hours sleep after spending an entire night keeping a werewolf entertained and fighting a tanuki intermittently. He saw Gaara at the post tray and asked, "Anything for me?"

"No. Hogwarts for me." Gaara said.

"Hogwarts?" Sirius questioned. Then it clicked, "Oh, it must be your results! Well, go on. Open it!" He cheered, descending the last few stairs to read over Gaara's shoulder.

Gaara did not fully understand Sirius' interest in his assessment results but it seemed harmless to oblige.

Inside were a front letter and two additional pieces. He skipped past the other two and went straight for the one he knew Sirius would not leave him alone until he had seen.

It read:

'Pupil Name: Gaara -

Year: 3rd

House: Slytherin

Term: 1993-1994

End of Year Results: Theoretical/Practical

Astronomy: Outstanding / Acceptable

Care of Magical Creatures: Outstanding / Exceeds Expectations

Charms: Exceeds Expectations / Acceptable

Defence Against the Dark Arts: Exceeds Expectations / Acceptable

Divinations: Outstanding / Outstanding

Herbology: Outstanding / Exceeds Expectations

History of Magic: Outstanding / (N/A)

Potions: Acceptable / Acceptable

Transfigurations: Outstanding / Acceptable

If you wish to make any amendments to your choice of electives for next year, send an owl to your Head of House by no later than August 31st.

Professor McGonagall

Head of Gryffindor House

Deputy Headmistress'

Gaara read over the results. He had not failed any of his classes so everything appeared to be in order.

"You managed to pass Potions?!" Sirius couldn't believe it, snatching the parchment out of Gaara's distracted hands. "From what Moony was telling me, I thought for sure Snivellus would fail you!"

"I studied on my own and the exam was proctored by multiple professors. He did not have the choice." Gaara said.

"I can't believe Remus only gave you an Acceptable!" Sirius said, slapping the parchment for emphasis. "Your theory is great and all, but what's the point of conspiring to commit felonies with your professors if they won't at least bump up your grades." Sirius frowned. "That was how I passed my Defence Against Dark Arts in second and third year, with two different professors."

"I believe he may have graded me loosely already. I am not a proficient spellcaster." Gaara admitted this freely. His first year of learning to use magic had been humbling.

The diminutive redhead was disinterested whereas Sirius was lighting up one of his celebratory cigars and smiling widely.

"I'm very proud of this, Gaara." Sirius said, walking away with the grades. Gaara followed after wondering where Sirius was taking them since Remus likely wouldn't be awake for a while.

He followed Sirius into the kitchen and in there he found him pinning the parchment to the twenty-year-old fridge, in pride of place. Gaara tried not to let the juvenile commendation bother him so he walked back out.

He read the other letters now that Sirius was distracted with his cigar and comically large glass of brandy. The front piece was a confirmation of continued attendance at Hogwarts, which he smirked at bitterly.

'Dear Mr. Gaara,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to continue your studies into the fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all additional necessary books and equipment as well as your end of year examinations results.

Term begins on 1 September.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress'

After what Gaara assumed to be the formal and perhaps even automatically written portion of the letter came a postscript in a different handwriting.

'P.S. I am afraid gourds and other large containers of magically imbued sand or liquids will no longer be permitted to be carried in the halls or into classes starting next term.

With apologies,

Professor McGonagall'

Gaara read over the note again and sighed. Mini-gourd it would have to be. He would keep full size in his room. He glanced over the required materials list and saw nothing he couldn't retrieve in a quick visit to Diagon Alley. He would ask Sirius to collect his things for him in the next week. Hopefully Gaara would not be required to attend too.

Another owl appeared at the window and Gaara took the letter from it. Having seen dozens of such letters carried by the same impressive owl, Gaara knew exactly who it was from and took it straight to Sirius.

"Harry has sent you a letter."

"Hedwig didn't go for you, did she?" Sirius asked, concernedly looking at Gaara's fingers.

Gaara glanced at them too and shook his head.

"Can you take Remus these potions?" Sirius asked absently, now balancing his cigar and brandy in one hand while holding out a vial and a small cruet for Gaara to exchange for the envelope.

Gaara nodded, making the swap, having no interest in Potter's latest letter. He walked into Remus' room and started to rouse Remus, who was still drowsy. As he helped the disorientated man swallow the tincture and potion, his mind wandered to last night. He had almost felt like he could control the transformation, as if he could stop it, but then he was a tanuki and it was too late. Still, he was sure he would be ready by next month.

Sirius read over the copied results Harry had sent as beamed with even more pride, slapping them onto the fridge right next to Gaara's. It would stay there for many months to come.

Harry did not say much else in his letter, just that he was happy with most of his results and could live with the rest. He asked what Gaara had gotten at the end, which Sirius was encouraged by. Recently the animosity between Harry and Gaara had seemed to die down a little.

Sirius hoped they would be best buddies by the time Christmas rolled around.

Even more encouraging was that Harry had remembered to call him Padfoot, even if he had forgotten Gaara's nickname.

Sirius took out his quill and paper and started his reply.

'To Prongslet,

I am very proud of you. I would have said that even if you were a dunce, but you actually got amazing grades so I can honestly say I am overjoyed and immensely proud. Bandit did as well as can be hoped with his unfortunate tendencies with regard to spellcasting.

Will you be continuing the same classes as last year? Bandit wants to switch both of his electives, I think.

I hope you have been lavishing that bird of yours with affection and treats this summer with the workout she's been getting. With the way she treats your poor old dogfather, I think she might unionise any day now.

Your proud and handsome godfather,

Head of the Most Dusty and Inbred House of Black,

Lucky S.O.B.,

Padfoot'

Sirius almost forgot to note down Gaara's grades, so he did so on the back and sealed up an envelope. He pulled a piece of cooked bacon from the fridge and approached Hedwig with a hopeful smile. She took the bacon and still squawked at him threateningly.

The long-haired, unemployed ex-con probably should have asked Gaara before sending out a copy of his grades, but he didn't imagine for a second Gaara would care in the slightest.

He went to Remus' room but Gaara had cleared out, probably hidden in his bedroom again. Sirius wanted to go and bother him, but no matter his boredom he understood Gaara needed some space to process right now. They had been crowding him these past twenty-four hours and while it had been a necessary and positive experience, Gaara was a solitary person and needed to work things out in his own head.

Plus, when Gaara got stressed he found Sirius' hijinks marginally less amusing.

He chatted with Moony when he regained consciousness for a few minutes at a time and ate his dinner in there too when Kreacher reminded him of the late hour.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Early the next morning, as soon as it could rightly be called morning rather than night, Sirius drove Remus back to St. Mungo's and shouted at every staff member he encountered until they admitted his friend. Of course they were still reluctant to let the known werewolf back in their doors and expressed this prejudice at every opportunity.

Merlin forbid they miss a chance to insult Remus!

Gaara had wanted to come this time, probably to level a few threats at the healers himself, but Sirius said he could manage that on his own and that Remus would be fine and back home in a week at the most. That had been a guess but it had mollified the angry demon-host enough to leave the task to Sirius.